Finding Spirit in the Modern World

Card of the Day: The Green Man Challenges Us

OK, we’ve been preparing for two days, and now the Green Man is challenging us to start something. What do you need to start? It’s time to take action.

Blessings!

THE GREEN MAN

READING POINTS: The Green Man is generous in his bestowal of creative, fertile energy and he will move you to a new level of confident and assertive dynamism. This is a time for both giving and receiving the natural flow of life both inwardly and outwardly. Be prepared to find a new and thriving drive to begin projects, relationships, and even new ways of living your life and fulfilling your world. Now is the time to experience being at the apex of the cycle of life. Enjoy it!

DESCRIPTION: The face of the Green Man gazes from this card with a challenging and blazing stare. Golden summer sunlight radiates from the leaves that burst abundantly across his glowing face and reach across the heart of the sacred land. In front of him is the cauldron of thriving and regenerating nature, which is both a preserved and storehouse of the vital energy of creation and stability. It represents the throne of kingship, currently empty, and the Green Man guards it with the spear of power and the horn of plenty, ready for the king who will take his place and stand as defender of the land.

MEANING: The Green Man is a symbol of the flourishing heart of the male aspect of nature. One of the most ancient images of the connection between mankind and nature, his face has looked out from the stones of temples and churches for centuries. Even in the dim and chilly heights of Christian cathedrals, he looks down, often sardonically, on the people far below. Constantly returning in thinly disguised ciphers such as the Green Knight, Jack in the Green, and Robin Hood, his face, disgorging leaves, peers out from the rich, dark, fertile heart of the forest and challenges you to respect and revel in the joys of the natural world. His aspect can be fearsome and frightening as he protects the wild beasts of the forest. They know his voice and his presence well, for he is a much one of them as he is the conscious spirit of the land, and the interaction between nature and beast is constant and intertwined.

The fecund cauldron is under his ever-watchful eye and the joyful exultation of creation and fertility are seen the Cerne Abbas giant, proud both in his manhood and his protective power. He is a giant figure indeed, mature in his power and patient in his resolution.

The Green Man is every vigilant and unerringly stoical in his guardianship of the sacred land. His warning to respect the laws of nature and the beast of the forest area best heeded, as his challenge to those who abuse his generosity can be fierce and severe indeed. Yet his heart is great and his spirit is warm and full of primal joy. His face is not hidden from those who can see through the thickly tangled fronds that encompass and enfold the Earth. His bounty is rich and nutritious and soaked in the golden rays of a fertile summer sun.

The Wildwood Tarot by authors Mark Ryan and John Matthews and artists Will Worthington